Mariner of the Seas (Bahamas) and Disney World - Review - Sept 30, 2019 - Oct 11, 2019

[Noreen411]

 

Mariner of the Seas (Bahamas) and Disney World - Sept/Oct 2019

 

Who are we?

 

Noreen - 51 years old; Senior Vice President at an Investment Banking firm in New York City.  I will be the author of the report.

 

Scott - 50 years old; my husband; Independent Contractor and co-owner of BounceU in New York

 

General Comments:

I am writing this from memory with the help of looking through my pictures and texts that I would send myself throughout the trip to remind me of what we are doing.

 

I like detailed reviews with a lot of information that some people may not care about.  I write these as a travelogue that I can go back and read later and hopefully help others planning a similar trip.

Edited November 23, 2019 by Noreen411

[Noreen411]

 

Here is a picture of Scott and I from a cruise on Anthem of the Seas in 2018 so you will know what we look like before I start adding more pictures and information.

 

 

 

[LuCruise]

I love your reviews!  We are doing this exact same trip next summer (Mariner + Disney) so really excited to hear about your trip.

[Noreen411]

Planning

 

I am combining Cruise and Disney planning here as they are sort of combined, but once I get into the day by day, you can easily skip the sections you aren’t interested in.

 

We normally go to Disney World in early fall (late September/early October) for just under two weeks.  During our fall 2018 Disney trip we talked about changing the time of year as it was unseasonably hot when we were there.

 

We were watching the Christmas Parade on TV in 2018 and they mentioned the new Star Wars Land would be opening in fall of 2019 so Scott (who is a big Star Wars fan) said let’s stick with fall for Disney in 2019.  We don’t know exactly when Star Wars Land will open, just that it’s fall.  My busy season at work starts in the fall so we need to go early fall.

 

As we continued chatting about vacation plans in general, Scott suggested doing a short cruise along with our Disney trip.  He barely had the words out of his mouth and I was online looking at options.  To keep it as simple as possible I looked for cruises out of Port Canaveral since that’s only about an hour from Disney World.  Since this is our Disney trip, I didn’t want to shorten the Disney portion too much.

 

I was busy poking around and narrowing down the options which came down to a week on Harmony which would end up making our Disney trip too short or either a 3 or 4 night cruise on Mariner which fits very nicely into the Disney plans.

 

Scott received an email from Casino Royale (the casino program at Royal Caribbean) offering a list of free cruises he could take in a Junior Suite.  The Mariner (both the 3 or 4 night ones we were looking at) were on the list.  I also received a similar document from Casino Royale but mine came snail mail.  I had the same sailings and my offer was for a balcony cabin.  We get these mailings/emails often and aren’t usually able to take advantage of them.  We like to gamble and spend time in the casino on our cruises.  We are both Prime in Casino Royale’s program.

 

We called my friend and travel agent, Brenda, mid January who spoke with Casino Royale to get us booked.  We wanted to book a Grand Suite and were able to combine our offers having to pay just the taxes, port charges, and insurance.  We booked the 4 night sailing on Mariner leaving September 30, 2019.

 

Once our cruise was booked I booked one night pre cruise at Radisson at the Port for Sunday night 9/29/19.  

 

The cruise leaves Monday 9/30 and we get back to Port Canaveral on Friday 10/4

 

When we get off the cruise on Friday 10/4 we will drive over to Disney World.

 

I booked a 1 bedroom premium villa at Vistana Villages.  I own a timeshare at Vistana Resort that is a two bedroom/two bath villa.  When it’s just Scott and I, we don’t need two bedrooms so I like to book the one bedroom premium villa.  If I don’t just book a regular week, I can convert to “options” and it costs more options to stay in the two bedroom than the one bedroom so we can stay longer in the one bedroom premium and usually still have options left.  This is how we usually stay for almost two weeks.  While we own at Vistana Resort, every once in a while we change it up and stay at the sister resort, Vistana Villages.

 

Our Itinerary:

Saturday 9/28/19 - Leave NJ and start the drive to Florida

Sunday 9/29/19 - Arrive in FL - check into Radisson in Port Canaveral

Monday 9/30/19 - Board Mariner of the Seas

Tuesday 10/1/19 - At Sea (Later this was changed to Coco Cay)

Wednesday 10/2/19 - Nassau, Bahamas

Thursday 10/3/19 - Coco Cay (Private Island)

Friday 10/4/19 - Disembark Mariner, Drive to Disney World, Check into Vistana Villages

Saturday 10/5/19 - Disney World

Sunday 10/6/19 - Disney World

Monday 10/7/19 - Disney World

Tuesday 10/8/19 - Disney World

Wednesday 10/9/19 - Disney World

Thursday 10/10/19 - Disney World

Friday 10/11/19 - Check out of Vistana Villages and start the drive back to NJ

 

In August I saw information that the Mariner was changing some of the itineraries to include two stops at Coco Cay.  Our sailing was changed and instead of a Sea Day we’ll be in Coco Cay on Tuesday as well as Thursday.  I’m kind of excited about that.  We enjoyed Labadee on a recent trip so am looking forward to seeing Coco Cay.

 

Late August Brenda (friend and travel agent) called me since Royal Caribbean called her to see if we were happy with the itinerary change and if we weren’t they would price protect us to move to another one of the sailings on Mariner that didn’t have the two stops at Coco Cay and no sea days.  She thinks they are offering the move-over offer to people booked through the casino as the casino will be closed during the port stops.  We’re fine with the itinerary change and since this is combined with a trip to Disney World I wouldn’t want to have to start moving that around too.

 

Transportation:

As crazy as this sounds, we are going to drive to Florida from Northern New Jersey.  Scott isn’t a big fan of flying.  

 

In April 2018 we rented a car and drove down for a cruise out of Fort Lauderdale and flew home.  We enjoyed the drive down more than the flight home.

 

When we went to Disney World fall 2018 we rented a car and drove both ways.  Our drive down was with a hurricane going on so we had to detour to Tennessee to get to Florida.  Even with that, Scott still prefers to drive over fly.

 

We debated renting a car or taking one of our cars.   We both lease.  I’m under on my miles on my car surprisingly.  Scott got a new truck late May 2019 so wanted to take that since he won’t have many miles yet.

 

Activities:

On May 14, 2019 I booked a 2 device Surf & Stream package on sale for $20.99 a day for the cruise.

 

Our Disney annual passes expired during our fall 2018 trip so we will get new ones for this trip which will cover this trip as well as our 2020 trip to Disney World.  I purchased our annual passes on 9/5/19 online

 

I started making fast pass reservations for Disney as soon as I was able to and would log on each day to make the next days fast pass reservations.  Since we’re staying off site we can make our fast pass plans 30 days in advance as opposed to people staying onsite (Disney property) who can make theirs 60 days in advance.

 

Dining/Beverage:

On May 14, 2019 I purchased refreshment packages for both of us on sale for $20 per person per day for the cruise.

 

For Disney, I had a handful of restaurants I wanted to try to get reservations for.  Since we started planning this trip earlier than we normally do, I started to book dining 6 months in advance.  We realized last trip we prefer not to have dining reservations in the park, but like the restaurants in the resorts or at Disney Springs.  The only exception would be maybe Be Our Guest in Magic Kingdom.

 

Since we will be in the timeshare we normally have breakfast in the villa.  We can eat more like we would eat at home; cereal, fruit, yogurt, etc.  Lunch we often skip as it’s hot and we’re running around the parks.  We will bring a granola bar or some fruit to snack on.  Then we’ll have an early dinner.  This worked best for us.

 

My Disney Dining Plans (which we ended up changing some) are as follows:

Friday 10/4 - Homecoming 4:10pm

Saturday 10/5 - Trattoria Al Forno 6:10

Sunday 10/6 - Yachtman’s Steakhouse 5:55

Monday 10/7 - Be Our Guest 6:30

Tuesday 10/8 - Storybook Dining At Artist Point 4:30

Wednesday 10/9 - Narcooses 6:05

Thursday 10/10 - Raglan Road 6:30

 

 

[Noreen411]

18 minutes ago, LuCruise said:

I love your reviews!  We are doing this exact same trip next summer (Mariner + Disney) so really excited to hear about your trip.

Thank you.  I enjoy writing them.

If you have any questions, please ask.  I love talking about Disney and Cruising

 

Noreen

[Noreen411]

A month before the trip (August):

 

I received a Royal Up email on Friday August 16, 2019 (about 6 weeks before the trip).  The minimum bids were:

Royal Suite - $350 per person

Owner’s Suite - $100 per person

2 Bedroom Grand Suite - $200 per person.

 

We don’t need a 2 bedroom grand suite but on August 22, 2019 I placed weak bids for both the Owner’s Suite ($150 per person) and the Royal Suite ($400 per person).  I don’t expect to get either but it’s fun to play.

 

Normally I wouldn’t post much this far ahead of the trip, but this will have an impact on the trip.  I hurt my heel.  I’m not sure what caused it but it would just sometimes hurt.  I went to a podiatrist who told me it is plantar fasciitis.  He gave me a Cortisone shot (which I think made it worse) and told me some stretches to do each morning and said to ice it if I do a lot of walking/running/etc.

 

With the issues with my heel, we talked about possibly cancelling the Disney portion of the trip (since that would include a lot more walking) and maybe adding another cruise after the Mariner cruise.  Maybe Harmony but then we would be switching ships and need a hotel in between or staying on Mariner for another sailing or two.  We weren’t going to go all the way to Florida just for a 4 night cruise.

 

We decided to keep the plans as they were with the cruise and Disney.  Since we have been to Disney many times, if my heel starts to bother me we could take it a little easier.  We don’t have to spend full days in the park.

[vpat48]

I love your TR's. Looking forward to this.

[Noreen411]

17 hours ago, vpat48 said:

I love your TR's. Looking forward to this.

Thank you

[Noreen411]

The week before the trip:

 

We did our usual fashion show where we try on different clothes we want to bring.   Often we end up ordering a few more items but we didn’t this time.

 

We did the bulk of the packing.  We both overpack.  Planning for a pre-cruise hotel, cruise, and Disney made it more confusing than usual.  I like using packing cubes so tried to separate it so we would have some cubes we use on the cruise and some we use at Disney but we’ll have them all with us in case we want something from one of the other cubes.  I used different color cubes so I would remember which ones were the “cruise” cubes vs the “Disney” cubes.  I even packed a separate, different color, cube that we will use at the pre-cruise hotel then leave in the car during the cruise.

 

We have some extra stuff that we will leave in the car during the cruise that we will use at Disney.

 

Additionally, we have a car bag with things like a throw blanket, maps, wet wipes, slippers, etc.  We also have a cooler bag that we’ll put water and soda in.

 

We received the concierge email on 9/25

 

Edited November 24, 2019 by Noreen411

[Noreen411]

The day before the trip - Friday 9/27/19

 

It was a busy day at work with a lot of meetings and things to wrap up.  The good thing was I worked remotely (from home) that day so didn’t have to deal with driving home from Tribeca (downtown NYC) to Northern NJ at the end of the day.

 

Scott had a busy day at work too.

[Noreen411]

The day we start our drive to Florida - Saturday 9/28/19

 

We planned to leave early evening doing most of the drive overnight.  This should get us to the pre-cruise hotel when we can check in.  After a long drive, we both want to be able to get settled and take another shower before heading out for dinner.

 

I had an early afternoon spa appointment for my manicure and pedicure.  I did a shellac manicure in what I call a sparkly princess pink.  I have chosen this color before for Disney trips.  It will last the whole trip.  My pedicure is a normal one with a bright sparkly blue polish.  

 

 

Scott packed his new truck for the trip.

 

 

We left the house about 5:45pm and stopped at Starbucks for Scott.

 

We were in Pennsylvania by 7:25.

 

Maryland seemed very quick so maybe my notes were wrong but I had us reaching Maryland at 10:30 and Virginia by 10:40 (just 10 minutes later).

 

We were originally planning to drive straight down I95, but were given a recommendation to take a different route that will add some miles but will be an easy ride avoiding traffic.  We gave it a try and our plan now is to take 78 to 81 to 77 to 26 to 95.  There was no practically no traffic in the middle of the night.

Edited November 24, 2019 by Noreen411

[Noreen411]

Sunday 9/29/19 - Arrive in Florida

 

We got to South Carolina about 8am.

 

 

 

We reached Georgia about 11:30am.  We both took a 20 minute nap in the car at the rest area here.

 

We were at the Florida Welcome Center about 1:30pm.

 

 

 

After driving so long once you get to Florida you just want to be there but we knew we still had a few more hours to drive.

 

While the alternate route was nice, it added too much time to a long drive.  If we weren’t driving straight through, it may be a good idea, but not for the straight through drive.

 

We got to Cape Canaveral about 4:30.  

Edited November 24, 2019 by Noreen411

[Noreen411]

Sunday 9/29/19 - Florida - Continued:

 

We had a little trouble finding the Radisson.  After turning around twice we found it and checked in.  At check in we were given tickets for a free drink in the bar as well as tickets for breakfast in the morning.  

 

We had a little trouble finding the room at first, but that could be because we are tired.  The room is decent. 

 

 

 

We showered and changed.  Scott was done first so went to the bar in the lobby while I got ready.  When I was heading down to the lobby I saw a housekeeping lady with a towel cart so I was able to get more towels and drop them back in the room.

 

I met Scott in the bar.   I had a Malibu Bay Breeze and he had a Martini.  We toasted to our upcoming vacation.

 

 

 

We went to Fishlips for dinner.  

 

 

We both had soda.  We shared our food.  We do that often since otherwise, it’s just too much food.

 

 

 

For appetizers we had fried calamari and breadsticks.  

 

 

 

For our entree we had Cobia (a fish) with a side of seared scallops.  The food was very good and they even pre-split the dish for us into separate plates.  Good thing we were sharing; look how much food there is and this is only half of it.

 

For dessert we had the Princess Pineapple Dessert.  This was the waiter’s suggestion and it was really good.

 

While we were eating I received emails that our Royal Up bids were not successful.

 

We went back to the Radisson after dinner.  We stopped at the bar but it was packed so we left and went back to our room.  We put on our PJs.  We were in bed by 8pm totally exhausted but looking forward to the next almost two weeks.

Edited November 24, 2019 by Noreen411

[#55worktoplay]

Great start. Looking forward to hearing more. Sounds like a great trip itinerary.

[Noreen411]

On 11/26/2019 at 9:24 PM, #55worktoplay said:

Great start. Looking forward to hearing more. Sounds like a great trip itinerary.

Thank you.  

[Noreen411]

Monday 9/30/19 - Embark Mariner of the Seas

 

We were up at 4am this morning.  Scott went to the gym right away.  I poked around on the internet a bit then met him in the gym around 4:45.  The gym is small but has what we needed.  There were three treadmills (one not working), two ellipticals,  one recumbent bike, a bench, and weights.  We were the only two people in the gym.

 

 

 

Back in the hotel room we showered and got dressed.  Scott was ready first so he loaded the car while I showered and got dressed.

 

My extra packing cube for our pre-cruise stay seems to have worked well as we didn’t need to pull any other clothes out of the suitcases.  We will leave the dirty clothes in that cube in the car during the cruise and will take it with us once we get to Disney and have a washer/dryer to do laundry.  I like being able to do laundry on vacation.

 

Scott came back for me after the car was loaded and we headed to the breakfast buffet around 7:30am.

 

On the way we saw this cute little skinny cat that made us miss our kitties at home.  Scott pet the little cat for a while then we headed to breakfast.

 

The breakfast area was very nice.  It was also pretty empty when we went.  The set up was great; a regular restaurant type set up with waiter service.  We were served our beverages at the table and could help ourselves to the various items at the buffet.  There was a very nice variety of both hot and cold food including an omelet station.   There was no charge for breakfast with the vouchers from check in but we left a cash tip.

 

Scott wrapped some scrambled eggs in a plastic coffee cup lid for the skinny cat it he was gone when we got back to where we saw him.  Scott left the eggs for him hoping he would be back.

 

We walked by the pool area on the way back to our room.  There was a little koi pond too.

 

We were back in the room by 8:15 which was still too soon to the head to the ship.  We puttered around a bit then went to check out.

 

We stopped at Publix for a few items.  We bought new toothbrushes; the ones we had with us were a bit too hard (the bristles).  We also saw a Tshirt Scott liked so he got that.  He has bought a few Tshirts in Publix near Disney in the past and likes them.

 

We drove to the pier.  The first sighting of the ship is always exciting.

 

We dropped our luggage with the porters and parked the car by 10am.

Edited November 28, 2019 by Noreen411

[Noreen411]

Monday 9/30/19 - Continued

 

Check in was very quick.  We were waiting in the suite/pinnacle area by 10:30.  I was looking for the boarding photo area but haven’t seen it yet.  

 

 

 

We started boarding around 10:45 and we were among the first group of people on the ship.

 

The boarding photo was on deck as soon as we boarded.  They had two different ones so we posed for both.  We always buy them so this way we had more than one to choose from.

 

We started walking around the ship a bit.

 

 

We were looking for the suite lounge and I thought we found it, but we were in the Diamond lounge.  I was surprised the concierge wasn’t at the desk.  I asked a lady sitting there who was talking about being on the ship several times and she told me I was in the wrong place, the Suite lounge was on the other side of the Viking Crown Lounge.

 

When we walked to the other side there was a big sign in front of it.

 

We met the concierge and asked a few questions.  We found out we don’t need to get tickets for the ice show and there is a separate seating area in Studio B,  she pointed out the pool suite seating area, she advised us there is a suite section in the theater too.  She told us we should have lunch in the dining room today.  We were able to leave our luggage in the lounge while we explored the ship some more.

Edited November 28, 2019 by Noreen411

[Noreen411]

Monday 9/30/19 - Continued

 

We like the layout and size of the ship.   We wandered around taking some pictures.

 

 

 

Scott was impressed with the 3 story dining room.  

 

We were amused to see the Sunday sign in the elevator when it was Monday.  

Edited November 28, 2019 by Noreen411

[Noreen411]

Monday 9/30/19 - Continued

 

We went to lunch in the dining room.  

 

We both had had the same thing - soda, shrimp cocktail, and salmon.

 

We were going to skip dessert which surprised the waiter, but we ended up sharing a piece of cheesecake after seeing the other tables around us with it.

 

We enjoyed the meal, everything we ate was good.  We aren’t used to eating such a big lunch.

 

 

Edited November 28, 2019 by Noreen411

[legaljen1969]

Can't wait to see more of your review.  We are Disney addicts as well. We try to go at least once a year. If we can squeeze in a second trip, we are all about it.  We will have to try this squeezing in a cruise before or after our Disney days. Cruise and Disney? You can't get any better than that. 

[LuCruise]

4 hours ago, Noreen411 said:

Monday 9/30/19 - Embark Mariner of the Seas

 

The breakfast area was very nice.  It was also pretty empty when we went.  The set up was great; a regular restaurant type set up with waiter service.  We were served our beverages at the table and could help ourselves to the various items at the buffet.  There was a very nice variety of both hot and cold food including an omelet station.   There was no charge for breakfast with the vouchers from check in but we left a cash tip.

 

 

Great review so far.  

 

Wondering about The Radisson by Port Canaveral as I thought breakfast wasn't included? Or did you get a special deal as you mention vouchers?  We actually booked Country Inn & Suites in the same area for our Mariner cruise next summer because of the lack of breakfast (although I didn't realize that the hotel provides...even for a cost).  Pool looks really nice though.

 

P.S. - Love how you always post a picture of Scott at the MDR or CK in other reviews.  It's like your trademark. 😁

[#55worktoplay]

3 hours ago, legaljen1969 said:

Can't wait to see more of your review.  We are Disney addicts as well. We try to go at least once a year. If we can squeeze in a second trip, we are all about it.  We will have to try this squeezing in a cruise before or after our Disney days. Cruise and Disney? You can't get any better than that. 

I agree

[Noreen411]

On 11/28/2019 at 2:11 PM, legaljen1969 said:

Can't wait to see more of your review.  We are Disney addicts as well. We try to go at least once a year. If we can squeeze in a second trip, we are all about it.  We will have to try this squeezing in a cruise before or after our Disney days. Cruise and Disney? You can't get any better than that. 

Hi.  My favorite two things are cruising and Disney.  Lately we have been doing one Disney trip a year but normally we try to do 12 days at Disney.  We have annual passes and try to work the dates to get two trips out of it.  My husband suggested possibly skipping a year at Disney so there will be more new things for us to enjoy, but I can’t imagine doing that.  

[Noreen411]

On 11/28/2019 at 4:56 PM, LuCruise said:

Great review so far.  

 

Wondering about The Radisson by Port Canaveral as I thought breakfast wasn't included? Or did you get a special deal as you mention vouchers?  We actually booked Country Inn & Suites in the same area for our Mariner cruise next summer because of the lack of breakfast (although I didn't realize that the hotel provides...even for a cost).  Pool looks really nice though.

 

P.S. - Love how you always post a picture of Scott at the MDR or CK in other reviews.  It's like your trademark. 😁

Hi

 

When I was looking for a pre-cruise hotel, I read a lot of good reviews for Radisson and since it was available I booked it.   I didn’t  think about breakfast being included or not, but wanted a king bed non smoking room.  I just pulled out my confirmation email and it did note that breakfast was included. I just assumed when we checked in and they gave us the vouchers that everyone received them.  

 

That’s funny that I do always take pictures of Scott with a menu.   It’s easier when you sit down to eat to remember then trying to get pictures while running around.

 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2019 by Noreen411

[Noreen411]

Monday 9/30/19 - Continued

 

We went to the cabin a little after 1 and our luggage was already sitting outside the cabin.

 

We took this picture of the cabin door with our magnet a little later, but I’m showing it here.

 

 

Our cards were there and Scott’s card has his Prime Casino status pre-printed on it, but mine did not.  This has happened the last few cruises.  It’s easy enough to get a prime sticker from the casino host so not really a big deal.

 

The cabin is very nice with a good layout and tons of storage space.  We overpack and would have enough room even for a longer trip.  We did have about 2 weeks worth of clothes and things with us and we had plenty of room.

 

When you first walk in the room there is a bar/counter that has the mini fridge under it in one of the cabinets.  There are also multiple drawers.  The mirrored wall behind the bar/counter are closets.

 

The counter already had our Diamond Plus amenities like bottles of water, cans of soda, and a plate of cookies.   There was a fruit basket, ice bucket with ice, coffee maker, shelves with glasses, etc.

 

 

 

Our mugs for the beverage package were there also.  We like this style of cup; we received the same style on our last cruise and have been using them at home.  We never actually use them during the cruise, even though I always say I will use it at one of those soda machines where there are tons of choices.

 

To the right when you walk in is the bathroom which is a decent size with double sinks with drawers and a combination shower/bathtub.  Behind the toilet is a shelf with towels.  The mirrors above the sinks also open for more storage.

 

 

 

The living room area is beyond the bar/counter.

 

 

The bedroom area is opposite the living room with another dresser with drawers and mirrors that open for more storage.

 

 

The balcony has a table and chairs as well as two padded lounge chairs.  

 

We unpacked and got everything organized.  Some cubes (the ones designated for Disney) stayed packed and put in the closet but they were there if we needed something from them.  

Edited November 29, 2019 by Noreen411